Is dark web doxing dangerous for you? More than 43 million Americans have been victims of doxing in some way. The number of incidents has increased day by day, highlighting how easily doxxers can access people’s private data and inflict serious damage.
Doxxing, or dropping dox, is when a cybercriminal discovers personal information about someone and publishes it without their consent, exposing their identity. Doxxers generally do this to, get revenge, extort money, troll for attention or entertainment, and bully someone they dislike.
What is Dark Web Doxing?
The word doxing also spelled doxing, is a hacker’s term that comes from dropping dox or documents about an adversary. The reasons include personal clashes to political revenge. Some doxers act to expose criminals or perpetrators of offensive crimes.
The term doxing is derived from the word documents. The Word docs were simplified to dox in 1990’s hacker’s culture. The act of dropping dox involves finding personal information or documents (like someone’s home address) and posting them online. The term gained popularity thanks to dark web anonymous algorithms and hacking tools.
Doxxing can occur on several platforms, including social media, forums, and websites, but the anonymity provided by the dark web makes it especially attractive to doxxers.
What Exactly Does Dark Web Doxing Mean?
Doxing means posting someone’s data online without their consent. Doxing can also relate to unveiling the real person behind an anonymous username and exposing that person’s real identity online. While some doxing attacks are motivated by harassment or revenge, others target individuals who anonymously publish bigoted comments online or who are caught on camera promoting such views.
While the idea of doxing is decades old, it is still happening today, and it can be quite dangerous. Once someone’s home address, employment location, phone number, email, or other personal data is leaked, they become a prime target.
Dark web doxing attacks start from completely harmless, such as fake email sign-ups or pizza deliveries, to significantly more dangerous, such as harassing a person’s family or worker, physical harassment, hitting, identity theft, and other types of cyberbullying.
Which Information Can Be Doxxed?
The amount of data that can be used in dark web doxing is enormous. The following is a list of some of the most harmful personal information that might be leaked online:
- Home and Work address
- Home and personal phone number
- Social security number
- Driver’s license information
- Passport information
- Debit or credit card details
- Personal communications (emails, social media info, text, etc)
- Criminal history
- Embarrassing private details or images
Is Dark Web Doxing Illegal?
Doxing is not illicit, because there are no particular anti-doxing laws in most authorities. Instead, the legality of doxxing is determined on an individual basis. While accumulating or publishing publicly available data is rarely illegal, there are other criminal activities that doxxers can be charged for which include stalking, harassment, identity theft, or inciting violence.
Recently, governments all over the world have begun to introduce and pass anti-doxing laws. Hong Kong and Kentucky State of US passed an anti-doxxing law in 2021.
Depending on the circumstances of the case, the Interstate Communications Statute and the Interstate Stalking Statute in the United States may apply to doxxing. Dark web doxing may also violate the terms of service for specific websites. For example, Twitter restricts the publication of another person’s private information without their consent.
How the Dark Web Enables Doxxing
The dark web’s algorithm provides anonymity, allowing people or groups to gather, sell, or post private data without easily being traced. Here are some of the primary ways in which the darknet fuels doxing:
1. Data Breaches and Leaks
One of the main sources of personal information on the dark web comes from data breaches. Massive hacks of companies and organizations often result in stolen databases containing sensitive user data. This information is then sold on dark web marketplaces. Cybercriminals may buy this data and use it to launch dark web doxing campaigns.
Once data is live on the darknet, malicious actors can mine it for detailed personal data that may be used for doxxing. For example, if a breach exposes someone is phone number, email address, or financial transaction details, that information can be used to blackmail him or her.
2. Anonymity of Perpetrators
The dark web’s deep-rooted anonymity allows everyone to avoid accountability. The complicated encryption and routing systems of the Tor network make it extremely hard to trace the identity or location of users. The absence of traceability encourages individuals to carry out doxxing attacks without fear of legal consequences or exposure.
This anonymity has raised communities where doxxing is encouraged or rewarded. In some cases, dark web forums even host doxing contests where users compete to gather and publish sensitive data about specific persons.
3. Hiring Doxxing Services
The dark web is widely popular for offering illegal services, and hiring doxxers is one of them. Cybercriminals offer their skills and expertise in finding personal data, using a combination of hacking, social engineering, and data mining. Individuals who want to target adversaries, competitors, or political opponents can contract these services. Prices for dark web doxing services might vary based on the level of information sought and the victim’s celebrity.
4. Sale of Personal Information
In addition to stolen data, people on the darknet may also sell specific kinds of information that can be used for doxxing. It can include credit reports, government records, or social media data, often collected via several illegal resources like phishing attacks or skimming. The opportunity to sell such data in shadowy dark web marketplaces promotes the spread of personal information across networks.
5. Blackmail and Extortion
Once doxxed data is public, it can lead to blackmail and extortion, which is also common on the dark web. Cybercriminals may threaten to leak even more sensitive data unless the victim meets their demands, which could include payments in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or other favors. Victims are often placed in a position where paying the blackmail only increases the chance of future extortion.
Final Thoughts
In this article, we shared a detailed overview of what is dark web doxing and which personal information can be doxxed and sold on darknet. Be cautious while sharing your private information, and limit what you post online and how many details you share with strangers.